Bar-twisting machine.



S. S. PORTER.

BAR TWISTING MACHINE.

APPLICAUON man Nov.15,1911.

' 1,148,121. Patented July 27, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

S. S. PORTER.

BAR TWISTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 15. 19u.

1,148,1 2.1, Patented July 27, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lso

S'IAIESk PATENT OFFICE. Y

SIDNEY S. PORTER, OF CHICAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO CALUIVIETSTEEL COMPANY, OF CHICAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BAR-TWISTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 27, 1915.

i y.Application filed November 15, 1911. Serial No. 660,397.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, SIDNEY S. PORTER, acitizen of the United States, residing in Chcago Heights, in the countyof Cook and State of Illinois, have invented anew and useful ImprovementinBar-Twisting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bar twisting machines.

`More specifically, the invention relates to machines for twisting barssuch as are now used extensively in reinforced concrete structures, andis adapted to operate on either hot or cold bars of rectangular, squareor other polygonal cross section.

Heretofore in the manufacture of twisted bars, it has been customary totwist the bars or rods, while cold, in machines having two spaced chucksor gripping heads, the bar having an end secured in each, one chuckbeing held stationary while the other is rotated, or else both chucksrotated, but in opposite directions. This old method of twist- I ing hasmany disadvantages for the reason that the machines occupy -a largefloor space since it is necessary that the 'chucks be spaced apart adistance equalv to the length of the rod or bar-being operated upon;-only bars of definite length can be twisted; the twist is not uniform,due to the fact that the quality and characteristics of the metalthroughout the rod are not uniform, thereby allowing the rod to twist toa greater extent in the ksoft portionsthan in the hard portions, andfurthermore the ends of the rods held in the chucks are not twisted andthe lengths of these untwisted portions amount to several inches at eachend.

The object of my invention is to provide a structure which will overcomeall these defects, and one which will be adapted to operate on varioussized bars non-circular in cross section and of any'length, either hotor cold, and one that will twist the rod its entire length and providethe same with a permanent superficial twist or deformed surface, andconsists'essentially of a stationary member or die, and by the termstationary .in this connection, I mean non-rotatable7 about'the aXis ofthe bar being operated upon, the rod or bar being adapted to passthrough this stationary member or die, which serves to hold the rod orbar' from rotation; a rotary head or chuck through which the rod isadapted to pass, and having kmeans thereon to grip the rod or bar andthus twist it at the same time that the rod or bar is allowed to passthrough it continuously.

Different means may be employed for feeding the bar, and the same may befed direct from the rollingmill when hot bars are being treated, orfeeding rolls of any ordinary type may be used when cold bars are beingtreated. On the rotatable head or chuck are mounted preferablypositively driven rolls, the number of said rolls varying according tothe number of sides on the rod being twisted. In the case of a flat baror rod, I prefer to use only two of such rolls, but inthe drawing, Ihave shown my device as provided with four rolls and adapted to operateon a square rod. These rolls are skewed relatively to each other and tothe line of travel of the barbeing twisted,

andthe chuck or head plate which carries the rolls is preferably keyedto a hollow shaft suitably mounted in a frame and through which thevtwisted bar is adapted to pass, Iand jwh-ich is rotated at a compara--tively high speed by any suitable mechanism, such, for instance, as anelectric motor. Each of the rolls is ymounted on a shaft preferablyinclined to the face ofthe chuck plate, and is rotated by interposedconnections from a stationary gear. These rolls are equally spacedaround the chuck, and their edges or operating faces are placed so thatat their nearest points they Contact the central portions of the sidesof the rod, gripping the same suiiiciently to twist it, and at the sametime allowing the rod to pass therebetween with a minimum amount offriction, since the surface speed of the rolls is regulated toapproximately the surface speed of the rod as itis fed forward to avoidslipping. r VAnother important feature of my invention consists in thefact that the rolls, being mounted ina skewed relation to each other,and rotating at a comparatively high rate of speed vwith the chuck orhead, form a sort of bell-mouth or conical opening having the apexthereof at the portions where the rod is gripped bythe rolls,v so thatasthe forward end of the rod comes from the stationary member or die,`it will be engaged by the rolls forming the revolving conicalbellmouth, and the end will be properly guided icol until engaged andgripped by the rolls when the rod is immediately begun to be twisted. Mymachine may be adapted vto operate on different sized bars, by changingthe distances between the rolls, which may be accomplished in variousways, either by adjusting the rolls on the rotating chuck plate, or byinterchanging the chuck plates or heads as entireties, and by changingthe speed of rotation of the chuck the pitch of the twist may be variedat will.

My invention furthermore consists in the novel parts and devices and inthe novel combinations of parts and devices herein shown and describedor claimed.

In the drawings, wherein is illustrated one form of my invention, and inwhich like figures denote similar parts throughout, Figure 1 is a planview of my improved mechanism. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same,parts of the framework being broken away to more clearly show thedetails of construction. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the rotatingchuck or plate having the rolls mounted thereon. Fig. i is alongitudinal vertical section, taken substantially on the line 4.-4 ofFig. 3, and looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 5 is a detail,sectional view taken substantially on the line 55 of Fig. 3 and lookingin the direction of the arrows and Fig. 6 is a section of the stationarydie, taken on the line (5-6 of Fig. 4.-, looking in the direction of thearrows.

In the drawings, 10-10 denotes any suitable base or frame, preferablycomposed of two parallel I-beams 11, having removably attached theretocross pieces 12, said cross pieces 12 being secured as by means of bolts13. Mounted on these cross pieces 12 are the bearings 14C foi` a hollow,rotatable shaft 15, said shaft 15 extending longitudinally of theframework. The shaft 15 which carries the rolls about to be described,is removably and interchangeably mounted in said bearings 1a, wherebythe machine is adapted to operate on bars of different sizes bysubstituting shafts having chucks thereon with the rollers mounted tooperate on different sized rods. Also mounted on the base or fra'ne 10is an electric motor 115, the armature shaft of which has a gear 16keyed thereon, said gear 16 meshing with a gear 17 .keyed to the shaft15. Other forms of mechanism may be substituted for those which I haveshown for driving the shaft 15, without departing from the spirit of myinvention. Mo uuted on the front or forward end of the hollow shaft 15and keyed thereto is a chuck or head plate 1GO having a plurality ofbearings 170 therein in which are adapted to rotate a plurality ofshafts 18. Also mounted on the chuck plate 160, and preferably removablysecured thereto, as by means of bolts 19, are wedge shaped bearingmembers 20y in each of which is mounted to rotate a shaft 21, having atits inner end and keyed thereto a roll 22, said roll preferably 'havingits circumference or edge tapered, as more clearly shown in Fig. 5.Keyed to the outer end of each of the shafts 21 is a gear 23, eachofsaid gears 23 meshing with a worm 24 mounted on the forward end of ashaft 18. On the rear end of each of the shafts 18 and keyed thereto ispreferably a bevel gear 25, meshing with a stationary bevel gear 2G,said bevel gear 26 being rigidly connected by any suitable means to aportion of the frame 10 and preferably to the front cross piece 12thereof. From the structure described, it will be apparent that as thechuck plate 160 rotates, carrying therewith bodily the plurality ofrolls 22, each of the latter will be positivelyl rotated by means of ashaft 21, gear 23, worm 24, shaft 18 and gear 25 meshing with thestationary gear 26. The surface speed of the rolls 22 is preferably madeto equal the surface speed of the bar 27, being operated upon by therolls, and the gearing is preferably arranged so that three revolutionsof the chuck plate 160 cause one revolution of the shaft 21.

Disposed in alinement with the hollow shaft 15 and preferably fourinches from the operating portions of kthe rolls 22 is a stationarymember or die 28 secured to any suitable frame member as shown, said diehaving therein a recess 29 corresponding in shape and size to the bar 27being operated upon, and through which the bar 27 is adapted to easilypass, but which will be prevented from rotation at those portions heldwithin the die 28. Mounted adjacent the stationary bar holding member 28are rolls 30 which may be either those of a rolling mill where hot barsare being treated, or which may be of any ordinary structure adapted tofeed cold bars. As shown more clearly in Fig. 3, the operating portionsof the rolls 22 are so spaced that they contact the central portions ofthe flat sides of the bars being operated upon, and it will be apparentthat the number of rolls is adapted to be varied, according to thenumber of faces on the bars or rods being treated. As shown in dottedlines in Fig. 3, the portions of the rolls adjacent the points where therolls engage the bar form a bell-mouth of conical shape, having theouter portion thereof corresponding to the outer dotted circle 31 andconverging to the points where the rolls contact the bar and grip thesame and twist it, thereby providing means for guiding the forward endof the bar as it is fed from the die 28. It will be apparent that assoon as the forward end of the bar has been gripped by the rolls 22, itwill immediately begin to be twisted, owing to the fact that the rolls,which are mounted on the chuck 160, are rotating, thereby rotating thefree end of the bar, while the other portions of the bar are held fromtwisting in the die 28. By varying the speed of rotation of the chuckplate 160, it will also be apparent that the pitch of the twist in thebars may be varied. Furthermore, it will be seen thatthe bar will betwisted completely to its rear end, inasmuch as portions of the bar willbe twisted by the rotating` rollers so long asthere is any part of thebar 27 held within the die 28, and in this way I provide a structurewhich is adapted to operate upon bars of any length while the same arebeing continuously fed to the machine, and one which will form a twistthroughout the entire length of the bar. It will also be noted that thehollow shaft l5 which I have provided is of considerable length, and theobject of this is to prevent whipping of thebar as it is continuouslyfed through the machine and twisted.

The machine described provides a superficial permanent twist in the rodor bar being operated upon; that is, a twist or irregular configurationin the surface of the rod or bar, so that in usein connection withconcrete a firm and strong union between the rod and the concretemixture may be obtained.

Many changes may be made in the details of my invention withoutdeparting from the spirit thereof, and all such changes are contemplatedas fairly come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim 1. In a bar twisting machine, the combination with a nonrotatable die through which the bar is adapted to pass, of a chuck platemounted on a hollow, rotatable shaft, skewed rolls mounted on said chuckplate, ancll means for rotating the chuck and the rol s.

f2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a nonrotatable member through which a rod orV bar is adapted to pass, of ahollow, rotatable shaft in alinement with said member, a chuck platekeyed to said shaft, a plurality of rolls mounted on said plate, saidrolls being skewed relatively to each other and to the line of travel ofthe bar, each of said rolls `being mounted on a shaft having a gearthereon, intermediate shafts geared to each of the roll shafts,

`combination with a non rotatable and a stationary gear for rotating theintermediate shafts. A

3. In a twisting machine for operating on bars or rods of polygonalcross section, ghe

ie through which a bar is adapted to pass and corresponding in size andshape to the polygonal cross section of the bar, of bar feeding means, ahollow, rotatable shaft in alinement with said die, a chuck plate keyedto said shaft and rotatable therewith, a plurality of skewed rollsmounted on said plate, a stationary gear and means for rotating each ofsaid rolls from said stationary gear.

4. In a twisting machine for operating on bars or rods of polygonalcross section, the combination with a non rotatable member through whichthe bar is adapted to pass, of a rotatable member positioned adjacentthereto having means thereon adapted to grip the bar and rotate the sameand allow the bar to pass therethrough and form a permanent twist in thebar, a long, hollow shaft on which said rotatable member is mounted andthrough which the bar is adapted to pass, said hollow shaft serving toprevent whipping of the bar as it is fed and twisted, substantially asspecified.

5. In a rod or bar twisting machine, the combination with bar feedingrolls, of a stationary die through which the bar is adapted to pass, arotatable chuck plate having mounted thereon skewed rolls adapted togrip and rotate the bar as it is fed from the die and thereby twist thebar, said rolls being so arranged that portions of them while beingrotated with the chuck plate from a bell-mouth adjacent the die wherebythe forward end of the bar is automatically guided to the grippingportions of said rolls.

6. In a rod or bar twisting machine, the combination with a suitableframe, of a non rotatable bar holding member through which the bar isadapted to pass, an interchangeable, rotatable chuck plate having meansthereon adapted to grip the bar and through which the bar is adapted topass, said chuck plate being removably mounted on the frame whereby themachine may be adapted to operate on bars of various sizes.

SIDNEY S. PORTER.

Witnesses: y

LEE H. Hook, FRANK N. PRIME.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. C.

